Sunday, August 27th there was a 128 man tournament hosted by Montaro...

In the end, one man remained ..(myst)... This is not about ..(myst)...This is about the man who was left in his wake, the runner up and champion of the red bracket. Tc1~FroZ!.

I still remember the day... so long ago... it all began with a girl named Isabelle...

Isabelle was the fairest Protoss maiden of them all. A mere 600 years old and quite a looker. Her father, the honorable Gzstghflak thought her so good that he would marry her to the greatest Executor of the land...

Unfortunately the owner of that title was a matter greatly disputed among the Protoss warriors. It all boiled down to two great warriors. The seaman isoozu and the gardener Tc1~FroZ!. As it turned out, neither of these Executors wanted anything to do with Isabelle, in fact, they were much keener on the younger maidens of 300 years.

This enraged the honorable Gzstghflak and though he threatened death unto them numerous times neither would take his daughter's hand. So then a clever thought came into the honorable Gzstghflak's head... he called his friend, the Terran Montaro and explained his problem. Montaro told of the great war for the ticket, and thus the wheel was set in motion.

The honorable Gzstghflak told the tale of the war for the ticket to the two Executors and both of them eagerly ran to enter this war. Little did they know that the honorable Gzstghflak had a more sinister plot to marry his daughter to the winner of the first round matchup...

...But they did not care, the ticket was in sight, and the path to it was through the other....

The game started fairly normal. With both players going 8 pylon, 9 gate. Each sent the obligatory probe to scout for the enemy and both players found the other at fairly the same time. The important thing to note is that while both builds were the same, Tc1~FroZ! started warping every building up to 5 seconds before isoozu. This would seem to add up, and over TIME it did, just not early.

As you can see below, the builds quickly seperated. isoozu opted to head for reavers quickly, while Tc1~FroZ! was getting ready to spend some cash. Reavers, it would turn out, would play a very large part in this game.

At this point Tc1~FroZ! had enough of the buildup. He decided to make the first move. Both sides knew where the other was, so he took his new zealots and tried to get the drop on isoozu. To the annoyance of Tc1~FroZ!, he discovered one zeal and two big dragoons blocking the ramp. Never one to throw life away needlessly, Tc1~FroZ! retreats his zealots without taking any losses. At this point isoozu had one shuttle and was no doubt warping in reavers. Tc1~FroZ! on the other hand was shifting to goons, a smart strategy.

After having to retreat, thought, Tc1~FroZ! made some carefully thought-out comments. We feel your pain, Froz.

Much to my pleasure I saw I was right on the money when I guessed reavers by isoozu. Not only was he getting reavers, but he went the entire left-wing (check which side the buttons are on for the Robotics stuff) tech tree. His first Observer was used as a ramp watcher, meaning it sat and watched Tc1~FroZ!'s ramp, as well as the troops that wandered out. It looked grim for Tc1~FroZ! as isoozu seemed to slowly take control via intelligence gathering.

With his first reaver built, isoozu decides he will push forward to Tc1~FroZ!'s main in an attempt to take him out. His dragoons and few zealots made their way down to Tc1~FroZ!'s ramp, but as they approached the south natural they were discovered by a scouting zealot. Lucky for Tc1~FroZ!, and now isoozu lacks the element of surprise. 

isoozu was intent on continuing the attack, and confident in his skills he stormed the ramp. Unfortunately, Tc1~FroZ! had two zealots blocking the ramp with two dragoons backing them up providing cover fire. isoozu, unable to penetrate through this ramp rightly pulls his forces back to south's natural in an attempt to regroup.

isoozu also has an ace up the sleeve. His reaver-carrying shuttle soon arrives on the scene and he maneuvers his dragoons in a loose V formation as the shuttle moves in to drop the reaver in as close as possible without taking fire. 

It was a beautiful plan, executed perfectly and Tc1~FroZ!, in responce, sent his ramp forces down to take care of the problem. Out dropped the reaver and the battle quickly turned sour for Tc1~FroZ!. Instead of routing the attackers, the reaver turned the tables and shattered the ramp guards.

It looked like isoozu would waltz right into the base and ravage it. But it was time for Tc1~FroZ!'s ace. He had about 6 dragoons on the left side of his base, guarding the cliffs (for a drop, it would seem) and these were quick to rush to squelch this attack.

These forces met isoozu's forces in a bitter contest of wills. Both sides microing to try to arrange their goons to do the most damage while taking the least. Tc1~FroZ! had a more difficult task in microing as the reaver packed quite a wallop.

The new influx of goons were a life-saver. isoozu, knowing when to retreat, took his reaver (which had only helped kill one new dragoon) and loaded it back into the shuttle and fled. While the dragoons and zealots on the ground must have thought this especially cowardly it's unlikely that isoozu had any choice.

isoozu's forces now consisted of 3 dragoons and 2 zealots. While Tc1~FroZ!'s force consisted of 7 dragoons. As you can see from the pictures, isoozu may have pulled the reaver out, but he had not given up on the battle and was determined to do as much damage to Tc1~FroZ!'s dragoons as he could.

In the end, only one more of Tc1~FroZ!'s dragoons fell to isoozu's. Looking at the end result it makes you wonder what would have happened if the reaver had stayed. Certainly there would have been fewer dragoons. Not to mention that Tc1~FroZ! may have targetted the reaver specifically to try to get it out of the way as soon as possible. This can increase casualties as the troops bunch up to try to get within firing range of the reaver.

But those are all "what ifs" the fact is that isoozu DID retreat the reaver and now Tc1~FroZ! had a number of dragoons in good health!

This was good news for Tc1~FroZ! but bad news for isoozu. Tc1~FroZ! wasted no time and walked his goons over toward isoozu's base. But isoozu was anticipating this (he DID have an observer watching, as well) and began throwing up a few cannons at his ramp. But would it be enough?

The dragoons arrived with only one of the cannons warped (but two more warping in.) and attempted to bypass the defense entirely and walk around it. But Tc1~FroZ!, realizing he had enough dragoons to smash this defense began attacking. isoozu mustered two dragoons to back up his cannon (and no doubt prayed that the others warped in faster)

It was a pretty massive battle at the top of this ramp. Tc1~FroZ! smelled blood but isoozu wasn't quite finished. Still building reavers he sent his shuttle to grab a new one and then brought it forward to the battle. For isoozu, the calvary had arrived.

It was really a team effort for isoozu's forces. Even his probe started attacking a nearby dragoon. The turning point, however, would be the reaver. The massive damage inflicted by it's scarabs would splatter the ground with dragoon blood.

As one cannon fell, a new one warped in. Backed up by scarabs and newly created dragoons isoozu's troops held the ramp. This time, however, none of Tc1~FroZ! dragoons retreated. In the end, none survived.

There was no time for celebration for isoozu, he knew he had just dodged a bullet and that Tc1~FroZ! would reload and take another shot as soon as he could. isoozu was determined to get a shot off first. Throwing up another gateway to bring his total up to three, to match Tc1~FroZ!'s. isoozu also decided he better strengthen his defense. He prepared to expand to his natural and had a probe put a pylon up at his choke, no doubt to place some cannons there as well. 

Tc1~FroZ! on the other hand had seen the devastating power of the reaver and decided that these things were worth building. And anything worth building is worth building two of...

...traditional American thinking (while Froz may or may not be American.) 

Things did not go perfectly for isoozu, though. His pylon was discovered as Tc1~FroZ!'s marauding dragoons discovered it and destroyed it before he could erect any cannons or bring additional defensive troops in. 

isoozu's observer was wandering around at this point, but it did not enter Tc1~FroZ!'s base. Why, I do not know, perhaps fear of cannons.

Unfortunately, isoozu did not get to see the trouble brewing deep inside Tc1~FroZ!'s base. It seemed that the duel robotic bays were not going to be mass producing observers or shuttles, but rather would be primarily a reaver factory.

isoozu was giving another go at expanding, this time rebuilding his pylon and guarding it with his dragoons. Tc1~FroZ! however, was quickly moving into position to dominate the game. A reaver was already built. It looked like a case of distraction and drop as two massive groups of goons prepared to square off.

isoozu had a reaver in the mix and began pummeling Tc1~FroZ!'s forces. isoozu also had upgraded weapons and armor, whereas Tc1~FroZ! had no upgrades. Tc1~FroZ! made up for it with sheer numbers. Both in this battle and in upcoming ones.

Tc1~FroZ! decided to execute his drop and flew the long way around isoozu's base to his worker line. This sort of duel attention was key in giving Tc1~FroZ! the advantage. 

As the shuttle flew, Tc1~FroZ! drew his forces back, regrouping them. Obviously hoping that isoozu would redirect his defense troops away from the front line when he discovers the reaver drop. The immediate results of this reaver drop were painful, to say the least.

This was a perfectly executed reaver drop, destroying approximately 90% of his mineral workers with only 2 or 3 scarabs. Not only that, but isoozu did send his goons to drive the reaver away. But Tc1~FroZ! played it smart and reloaded his reaver and left. The only thing more aggravating than being dropped by a reaver is having the reaver and shuttle get away clean.

I N T E R M I S S I O N

isoozu base update 

Tc1~FroZ! base update 

Back to the future. action.

That marks the halfway point. With Tc1~FroZ! clearly ahead in aggressiveness and now economy. Tc1~FroZ! either didn't realize or didn't care that he had no upgrades because he had yet to produce a forge. This was a double edged blade, while he didn't get upgrades, the inability to produce cannons meant he spent more time producing goons and reavers.

With two shuttles filled with reavers and a number of dragoons Tc1~FroZ! made another push to isoozu's base. 

They were met by isoozu's force of dragoons and a reaver. While isoozu had less dragoons, he had superior upgrades, which was the sole reason isoozu's defenses didn't collapse under the attack that Tc1~FroZ! laid on him.

While upgrades would have allowed isoozu to hold easily against pure dragoons, Tc1~FroZ! unloaded 4 reavers on the battlefield. The scarabs did such a number on isoozu's frontline dragoons that he took his remaining forces and fled for his defenses. Tc1~FroZ! followed, eager to drive a dagger in this opponent and seal his first round win.

It looked very bad for isoozu as Tc1~FroZ! reloaded his reavers and prepared to re-land them in closer. Micromanaging his reavers was a very powerful tactic and cost isoozu many troops. But isoozu's base defenses were very clever, and as Tc1~FroZ! drove in he encountered several dragoons and a cannon on the cliff above him, as well as reinforced defences, with his reavers still in shuttles, Tc1~FroZ! un-upgraded dragoons began to take some serious damage.

Tc1~FroZ!'s shuttles rushed to drop the reavers, in a race against the tide of a battle the shuttles seemed especially slow. Tc1~FroZ! pushed his goons onward, attempting to smash through this defense, as well as give his reavers a good landing spot.

But as Tc1~FroZ! approached isoozu's ramp more dragoons swarmed down the ramp and to the edges of the cliff, it seems the tide had turned against Tc1~FroZ! already. Indeed as his dragoons made it up the ramp their diminished numbers met a stronger new force of isoozu's dragoons. With cannon support, the last of Tc1~FroZ!'s dragoons were killed.

With Tc1~FroZ! troops defeated and a good number of his own dragoons in perfect working order, isoozu began his own push against Tc1~FroZ!. Never letting his goons string out too far, he reached the choke to Tc1~FroZ!'s base and fought a small skirmish with some dragoons.

But it was again the powerful reavers that saved the day for Tc1~FroZ!'s forces, landing from their shuttles and firing their scarabs into isoozu's dragoons they stopped his push before it reached his natural.

It was for good reason that Tc1~FroZ! stopped isoozu's attack, not only was his main at risk, but the newly constructed expansion in his natural had just finished warping in and was beginning to pull in funds to help finance his war against isoozu.

isoozu realized that he was almost mined out himself and he needed an expand if he expected to win and since he saw Tc1~FroZ! had already expanded he knew he was behind and began warping in an expansion nexus in his natural.

Intuition tells great players good things and while isoozu sat building his forces Tc1~FroZ! dropped a pair of dragoons on isoozu's natural's cliff. This is one of the 
"great" things about lost temple. The cliffs that are adjacent to every main's natural. Within reach of goons, templar, and of course tanks.

For some reason Tc1~FroZ! thought that these two dragoons would be the end of the game, and offered a "gg". Odd that though they had thrown probably over 100 goons at each other total, Tc1~FroZ! figured that it would only take two to finish off isoozu. Well, isoozu had another thing in mind. I find it humorous that Tc1~FroZ! offered the "gg" right as isoozu dropped 2 goons to take care of Tc1~FroZ!'s.

While the game was not over yet, it was certainly nearing it's end. Tc1~FroZ! was growing impatient and he HAD offered the "gg" he wanted this one in the record books.

It must have also dawned on him that the reason isoozu's two goons had beaten his was because of their upgrades since he shortly erected two new forges and began researching upgrades.

So eager for the end, Tc1~FroZ! didn't wait for the upgrades to even go one minute before he sent his newly constructed army of dragoons forward to their battle.

Urging them onward Tc1~FroZ! laid waste to isoozu's outer defenes.

Using his four reavers and two fast shuttles (since the shuttles were upgraded speed, I assume the reavers were upgraded in capacity AND damage) Tc1~FroZ! drove forward relentlessly until he reached isoozu's expand. isoozu fled his probes to the far east to avoid the destructive scarabs.

We brought in special TV crews to capture the massive army that Tc1~FroZ! had assembled for this final battle. Not a single unit was left home for this, and the gateways were still producing more. Tc1~FroZ! even had his own observers, probably worried that a dark templar could slip into the mix and cause him trouble.

isoozu threw everything he could at Tc1~FroZ! emptying his base and keeping his probes out of it, trying desperately to get a stop. But as the battle at the bottom of the ramp drew to a close, there wasn't much left of isoozu's prize dragoon force. Only a lot of icky sticky blue blood.

isoozu was nearing his end. Tc1~FroZ! would not bring his dragoons up the ramp, thus avoiding the cannons that would tear them apart. Instead Tc1~FroZ! was content using his reavers to decimate the nearby nexus.

This truely was the end, after all the managing of forces, both fighters no doubt worn out as the battle was a gruesome one, to say the least. Neither side gave up, even when it seemed that defeat was at the doorstep (and it did indeed come to the doorstep for both of them) isoozu did not concede until the final breath was not just taken from him, but ripped out by four reavers and their goons.

Both sides gave the final "gg" and isoozu surrendered. A very honorable match. An excellent start to an excellent tournament. It turned out that this was the only full match I watched with Tc1~FroZ! in it, but it was a spectacular battle.

As some of you know, Tc1~FroZ! went on to be the runner up in this 128 man tournament. An awesome achievment. Grats to both Tc1~FroZ! and isoozu!

Quote of the game came at the very end of the match.

Atleast, THIS game he hated them. But I must say to you, isoozu. I don't know if Tc1~FroZ! would have gone heavy reavers if you hadn't bested him so early with them. But we'll never know, we'll never know. :)

The final scores for this match:

And as the battle ended, the honorable Gzstghflak ran to the battlefield with his daughter trailing behind. Waving his banner he approached the victorious Tc1~FroZ! when a reaver suddenly fired a scarab at the honorable Gzstghflak and his daughter. Tc1~FroZ! had forgotten to set the honorable Gzstghflak as an ally! The horrors! The resulting mess was censored from this report. So Tc1~FroZ! went on through the war for the ticket, unaware that he had been merely a scarab away from marrying a 600 year old protoss maiden named Isabelle

ciao